do session musicians devalue music and other thoughts

[zim]

maybe an odd question, do session musicians have any effect on the way you feel about music? how important are the musicians in a band behind the person writing the music? does it matter at all to you?

these are things i've been thinking about lately as i slowly work on my music and think about recording. so far i've been programming the drums and doing everything myself. when the time comes to record the music i'd really like a live drummer to perform on the album but the thought of a session drummer bothers me a little.

i think where the music feels so personal that having someone with no connection / history makes it feel less genuine than it would with a fellating lover/band mate performing on the music. but does it even matter to the average listener?

anyone have any thoughts?

[vO)))id]

Very interesting topic and one that has been debated by many music producers around the world.

This is personal to every listener but I can tell you, as long as the singer of the band is actually the one that does the vocals on the record, people tend not to care about the rest of the band. Now, this is true for the average listener in pop music. I imagine it’s different for fans of metal or non-mainstream music.

I’ve always had a preference to bands that consist of a basic drums, bass and guitar form to be each played by its own musician/instrumentalist. A band that has several members truly can create something bigger than the sum of its parts. Even if it’s just 1 extra musician to what would otherwise be a one-man band.

To add to the OP: do session musicians devalue music?
Depends on what you mean by “devalue”.
But I don’t think so. It all depends on the band, their music, their vision, the album and what they are trying to portray as a band.

[shadowalk]

Not really devalue but they do set a particular expectation for me on the album.

For example, I'll share my thoughts on Testament's classic 80s lineup and the lineup on The Gathering. With 80s Testament, you pretty much get what you expect. Killer thrash metal with Skolnick's tasty leads. They set a particular standard for Testament's music and they don't really deviate from that.

With The Gathering and its all-star, sessionist lineup, you have a particular expectation that you want to hear from the album since it features heavyweights like Lombardo, DiGiorgio and Murphy. If The Gathering sounded like classic 80s Testament, I would be really disappointed.

[zim]

good input

how about more of yous weigh in

[jawn galliano]

hmm, i am pretty tired so i don't think i can do a great job of unpacking this right now. but i think we're all pretty heavily centered around metal and a lot of the identity of the music comes from the idiosyncrasies of the players and how their styles interact & mesh together. and from that angle, i get why session work is probably viewed with skepticism. a mercenary has to be highly skilled, but a hired gun probably isn't going to have the chemistry with the rest of the ensemble that a dedicated band member might.

but from a practical standpoint, in your specific scenario, what's the alternative? can you track the drums on your own? would you be happy with sequencing them? alternatively, you could write all the patterns and get someone to track them and maybe they'll see something you didn't that could improve on them in ways you wouldn't think of.

in conclusion who knows i don't think there's really an answer to this question though because it probably requires an alternate reality to test against

[deckard]

doesnt bother me, i have the greatest respect for some session musicians, people like chester thompson jump to mind